King Furious at Net Bowlers No-Show
West Indies team practice has been disturbed for the second time in as many weeks, as yet again they were left stranded when net bowlers failed to show at the Junction Oval in St Kilda.
Furious Bennett King lashed out saying: "It's simply not good enough. When the Australians tour the West Indies, I'm sure they expect and are supplied with bowlers for net practice."
Organising net bowlers was the responsibility of Victorian Cricket as part of a memorandum of agreement between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)and Cricket Australia, writes Tony Cozier.
Once more a Trinidadian led the rush to assist only this time it wasn?t journalist Fazeer Mohammed ? it was cricketer Darrell Brown (Remember him?) who brought team mates from his Melbourne club along to help out.
As Trinidad & Tobago gears up for the Carib Beer series, Daren Ganga and Mervyn Dillon will take on the role of captains in a four day practice match that begins at 10am on Thursday at the National Cricket Centre.
Desperate to find the form that was non-existent during the KFC Cup, the team will play two further practice matches before taking on Guyana in their first match of the four day competition on December 2nd.
The Cable & Wireless fit-out of the 3W?s Oval at Cave Hill, Barbados is a done deal after Professor Hilary Beckles, Principal of UWI Cave Hill and Rick Hill, CEO of Cable & Wireless Caribbean signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday night.
In the Barbados Nation, Ezra Stuart covers the agreement which will see the 3W's Oval redeveloped with state of the art facilities, not only for cricket and the World Cup but for all other sports.
The West Indian presence in Australia will continue after the series for the Frank Worrell Trophy wraps up.
Elite panel umpires Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove have been named to stand together in one of the Test matches scheduled between Australia and South Africa.
In the Guyana Chronicle, Michael Da Silva reports that Tony Xavier, newly appointed Sports Minister and Chairman of Guyana?s Local Organising Committee, is excited about his involvement in preparing for Cricket World Cup 2007.
Calling on the media to influence public appetite for the event Xavier said: "This thing has to become a fever that will only break in 2007. That's my intention."
Former West Indies team physiotherapist Andrew Simpson appeared on the Best & Mason radio program on Tuesday saying that the squad is hampered by indifferent attitudes and lack of discipline towards training.
In the Trinidad Express sports magazine, E Donald Bailey says that the West Indies are far from finished.
Performances in the tour match against Queensland and the first Test against Australia are analysed, and the writer concludes that all is not lost.
Australian selectors have named the squad for second Test against West Indies which begins in Hobart on 17 November. Shane Watson of course is out through injury and Simon Katich has been dropped after a continuing run of poor form. Stuart MacGill is in the Aussie squad and has declared he is not travelling to Tasmania to carry drinks.
No word yet on the West Indies squad, but Dwayne Bravo has a strong case for selection and has told the media his inclusion will dramatically improve the side's fielding.